CVM, along with representatives from FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), will host a live-cast webinar on Dec. 3, 2018 to discuss FDA’s flexible, risk-based regulatory approach and current scientific evidence and regulatory science

The Chinese government announced on Oct. 29 that it would modify its total ban on the trade of rhinoceros and tiger parts, allowing rhino horns and tiger bones from animals raised on farms in China to be used on a limited basis by accredited doctors in Chinese hospitals. An outright ban on trading has been in effect since 1993. The use of these animal parts, often ground into a powder, have a long history in traditional Chinese medicine, along with genitalia from bulls, deer, and snakes and elephant tusks. But, say Chinese medicine experts, there is no proven or unique medical benefit to these and similar ingredients from other animals, many of which come from endangered creatures.Advocates for the elimination of trade in parts from tigers, rhinos, elephants, and other endangered animals say that because it’s nearly impossible to distinguish between farmed and wild animals, it effectively creates a market for poaching.